Eco-Journalists Network-Kunduz (Mediothek Afghanistan for Development and Peace Organization) with the support of The Liaison Office (TLO) and The Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBS) organized a three-day training workshop under the title of “Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change” in Kunduz from 27-29 of July 2021.
Engineer Farid Ahmad Fazli, Mayor, Engineer Heshmatollah Jalil, Head of the Environmental Protection Department, and Abdul Shakur Qadrdan, Head of Information and Culture department of Kunduz participated in the opening ceremony of the training.
Speaking at the opening of the event, Mediothek Afghanistan coordinator in Kunduz, Enayatullah Khaliq, spoke about the significance of the training workshop and its topic. “it is the duty of us as journalists to learn about the challenges of environment and raise public awareness through reporting,” he said “the advanced training in Kabul provided an important opportunity for the trainers of workshop to learn very important issues about environmental reporting and this event provides a chance for sharing those lessons and skills with about twenty more journalists at local level.”
Khaliq added that said that one the main objectives of the establishment of the Eco-Journalists Network in Balkh is to encourage, train and mobilize local journalists to report on local environmental problems and raise public awareness through reporting and providing information on a timely and professional manner.
In the course of the three days, the workshop covered a broad range of topics related to natural environment, relationship between environment and journalism, environment and development, sustainability, forests and their importance in the environment, air pollution and climate change, governance and environment in Afghanistan and knowledge and skills of environmental reporting.
The training workshop was designed to maximize learning and encourage participation. A balanced mixed method of theory and practice was combined to engage the participants in discussion and group work.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Abdul Shakur Qadrdan, Head of Information and Culture Department of Kunduz province said that paying attention to natural environment, resources and climate change is the first step of addressing environmental challenges and it requires honest and serious cooperation of organizations, individuals and experts.
“It is the first time in Kunduz that a network of “Environmental Reporters” is established in the province,” says Faisal Nouri, Managing Director of Shabnam Radio and participants “and this workshop was a very unique opportunity for young local journalists to learn very important topics about the environment and environmental reporting.”
and in the field of modern knowledge of environmental journalism, important cases have been taught that by learning these methods in order to eliminate air pollution, environmental culture awareness for the citizens of this province It will be valuable.
The workshop ended with the establishment the Environmental Journalists Network-Blakh and the distribution of certificates of successful compilation to the participants. The –Eco-Journalists Network has also simultaneously conducted similar training workshops in several other provinces across the country.
